“India is set to contribute more than
any other country to the rise in global energy demand over the next 25
years, underlining its ever-great influence in Asia and on the world
stage; even so, its energy demand per capita in 2040 would still be 40
percent below the world average,” he said.

“A lot is being done already to overhaul
the energy regulatory system and get the incentives in place. This is
vital, as India will need to call upon a wider range of investors and
sources of finance than it has in the past,” he added.

India needs around Rs.700,000crore ($110
billion) per year in energy supply, and a further Rs.200,000 crore ($30
billion) a year to improve energy efficiency, Birol said.

He also said that over the next 25
years, 315 million people, equal to the current population of the US,
will be added to India’s urban population, raising the demand for energy
exponentially.

India’s ministry of new and renewable
energy (MNRE) said on Thursday that the country has added 2,311.88 MW of
grid-connected power generation capacity from renewable energy sources
like solar and wind till October of this financial year, against the
full fiscal’s target of 4,460 MW.

India’s total grid-connected power generation capacity from all renewable sources at the end of October was 3,8096.49 MW.

“We (Congress) are ready to cooperate
with the BJP over GST. But we have our differences. We want a cap on
tax, and do not want the poor in the country to be taxed,” Gandhi told
media outside the Parliament House.

Gandhi added that his party was the one which introduced GST draft legislation earlier.

Gandhi made the comments when he was
asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to Congress
leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul himself and Manmohan Singh to meet over tea
on Friday evening, with the GST on the agenda.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance
Jayant Sinha said on Friday the central government is seeking a
consensus on the issue of levy of one percent additional tax for the
proposed goods and services tax (GST).

“There are many opinions on the one
percent tax on GST…states have another perspective on this,” Sinha told
reporters on the sidelines of an event here by the Centre for Digital
Financial Inclusion.

“We have to find a consensus on this.
The finance minister has said we are in continuous consultations,
particularly with opposition parties and are willing to consider any
reasonable suggections,” Sinha said, adding that the situation arrived
at this point was the result of continuous discussions with states and
other stakeholders.

The central government has set the
target for GST implementation from April next year, but the bill is
currently stuck in parliament, especially over the cabinet’s nod to some
changes recommended by a parliamentary panel, notably an extra one
percent levy to compensate the states for potential tax losses.

“In the past few months, the interest of
foreign investors in India has gone up tremendously. However, there
were a number of regulatory and taxation issues which were adversely
impacting on their sentiments. We have taken very decisive steps to
remove many of the long-pending concerns,” Modi said.

He was addressing the Singaporean business community at the India-Singapore Economic Convention here in the city-state.

Referring that IMF chief Christine
Lagarde has recently said that India is a bright spot in the global
economy, Modi said: “I did not want to wait for that brightness to reach
to you on its own. Hence, I am here. I am here to invite you to India
in a bigger way. I have also come to assure you that I am there to
carefully hold your hands.”

Modi was hopeful that the much-awaited goods and service tax regime will roll out from 2016.

He said India’s growth rate was 7.3 percent last year and the World Bank has projected even better growth this year.

“Indian economy is the fastest growing
economy among major countries. We are also working hard that the
benefits of this growth reaches to the common man.”

Modi observed that Singapore has emerged
as the second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in
India. “Outward Indian FDI to Singapore has also increased in recent
times. Singapore is now one of the top destinations for Indian
investments.”

To take the partnership further, Modi
said: “You have the habit of precision; India has the scope for
expansion. You are fond of going vertical; India’s development is both
vertical and horizontal. You are an exciting incubator; India is a vast
laboratory. Thus, Singapore and India can work together in many
promising areas.”

He also spoke of the potential of his
pet projects like Digital India, Skill India and Start-up India
Campaign. He also highlighted the various reforms that his government
has taken.

“We are working hard to make sure that
our tax regime is transparent and predictable. We are also keen to see
that genuine investors and honest tax payers get quick and fair
decisions on tax matters. To this objective, we have already made a
number of corrections,” the prime minister said.

Modi said FDI inflows to India have gone up by 40 percent compared with previous year’s corresponding period.

Pointing out that the India was setting
up a National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, Modi said: “We are
also coming up with Tax Free Infrastructure Bonds with a view to broaden
the corporate bond market. This will also provide long term finance for
infrastructure.”

“For infrastructure, we have also
decided to launch rupee bonds in some countries. Singapore could be
among them. We are quite eager to work with Singapore in this regard.”

He also said that in the last 18 months
of the National Democratic Alliance-run government, reforms were
happening in a “big way” and were now reaching to the last mile.

He also pledged to make the Indian tax regime more transparent and predictable.

It was a packed schedule for Modi as he
began the day with a breakfast meeting with Singaporean leaders, met
President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, witnessed the
signing of the accords, attended a lunch hosted by Hsien, laid a wreath
at the INA marker, visited the Institute of Technical Education that is
involved in skill development, addressed the India-Singapore Economic
Convention, briefly met select CEOs and finally addressed the Indian
diaspora, whom he praised for building up the country’s image.

Modi left for home late in the night.
Singapore was the second leg of his visit that earlier took him to
Malaysia for the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Modi and Hsien signed the joint
declaration to elevate bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership
to deepen and broaden engagement in existing areas of cooperation and
catalyse new ones ranging from political, defence and security
cooperation to economic, cultural and people to people contact”, an
official statement said.

Besides this, two agreements on defence
cooperation and loan of artifacts from India to Singapore, two executive
programme/operationalisation documents on arts and culture, and
white-shipping, and five memorandums of agreement (MoUs) on cyber
security, civil aviation, knowledge exchange in the field of planning,
urban planning, and combating drug trafficking were also signed.

The agreements were signed after talks between the two prime ministers here.

After the signing of the documents,
external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted that the two
prime ministers noted the importance of culture between the two
countries and encouraged more exhibitions, exchanges and interactions.

Modi and After the signing of the
documents, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted
that the two prime ministers noted the importance of culture between the
two countries and encouraged more exhibitions, exchanges and
interactions.

Modi and Hsien noted their shared
interest in furthering cooperation in the areas of science and
technology, particularly in space, biomedicine and ayurveda, the
spokesperson added.

The two prime ministers also released
two postal stamps showing Rashtrapati Bhavan and Istana, the Singaporean
presidential palace, to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between
the two countries.

Speaking at the lunch hosted by his
Singaporean counterpart, Modi described the city state Singapore as
Asia’s economic lion which has been a major partner in India’s
transformation.

“The Asiatic lion may now only be found in Gujarat. Asia’s economic lion is to be found here – in Singapore,” Modi said.

On his part, Hsien said the diverse Indian community in Singapore has played a large part in building the country.

Hsien said Singapore’s Indian pioneers
include G. Sarangapany, who came here from Tamil Nadu in 1924. He
founded the Tamil “Murasu” newspaper, and sold the paper at one cent a
copy so that the poor could read it too, Channel News Asia report“d.

“Because of leaders like him, Singapore
has today a thriving community of Indians who are well-integrated in our
society and form an essential part of our multi-racial, multi-relig”ous
mix,” Lee said.

Addressing the diaspora, Modi said: “The
entire world is reposing a lot of faith in India today and the reason
behind this is not Modi, but the Indians settled abroad.”

“Wherever you have gone, you have made that country your own, irrespective of circumstances,” Modi added.

Addressing the Singaporean business
community at the India-Singapore Economic Convention, Modi admitted that
there were still a number of regulatory and taxation issues in India
and tried to hard sell the country’s business potential to Singapore’s
corporate community, – and assured that he will do the hand-holding when
they come to India.

“In the past few months, the interest of
foreign investors in India has gone up tremendously. However, there
were a number of regulatory and taxation issues which were adversely
impacting on their sentiments. We have taken very decisive steps to
remove many of the long-pending concerns,” Modi said.

Modi was hopeful that the much-awaited goods and service tax regime will roll out from 2016.

He said India’s growth rate was 7.3 percent last year and the World Bank has projected even better growth this year.

Modi observed that Singapore has emerged
as the second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in
India. “Outward Indian FDI to Singapore has also increased in recent
times. Singapore is now one of the top destinations for Indian
investments.”

“We are working hard to make sure that
our tax regime is transparent and predictable. We are also keen to see
that genuine investors and honest tax payers get quick and fair
decisions on tax matters. To this objective, we have already made a
number of corrections,” the prime minister said.

He also said that in the last 18 months
of the National Democratic Alliance-run government, reforms were
happening in a “big way” and were now reaching to the last mile.

Modi also paid his respects at the Indian National Army (INA) memorial marker here.

“Coming out of three years of de-growth,
the industry is stabilizing this year to gather momentum over the next
two years, thanks to reforms and policy measures in the infrastructure
sector,” Excon chairman and JCB India Ltd. chief executive Vipin Sondhi
told reporters here.

Excon is a biennial expo of the
earthmoving and construction equipment industry, whose eighth edition is
being held this year from Wednesday at the Bangalore International
Exhibition Centre (BIEC) to showcase its products and technologies for
stakeholders in core sectors of the economy, especially infrastructure.

“Initiatives of the new (central)
government have made the macro parameters favourable to the industry.
With the economy reviving and inflation under control, some reforms such
as opening up the insurance and defence sectors for more FDI (foreign
direct investment) will lead to more infrastructure projects requiring
our equipment,” Sondhi said.

Recent decisions to allow the road
transport and highways ministry to clear projects worth Rs.1,000crore
excluding the land cost, compensation for developers for delays by other
stakeholders and allowing developers to exit a project after two years
from the built-operate-transfer route will help the users of the
industry’s equipment to fast track several projects that were held up
for various reasons.

“Though de-growth has dipped our
industry’s market size to $2.8 billion from over $3 billion three-four
years ago when the GDP (gross domestic product) was growing at eight
percent, we are setting a $5-billion target for 2020 in anticipating of
huge investments in the core sectors of the economy, including
infrastructure, which requires about $1 trillion,” Sondhi said.

Organised by the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) in partnership with Indian and overseas associations,
the five-day South Asia’s largest international construction equipment
and technology trade fair will focus on “Make India – Building
Infrastructure, Building the Nation”.

To be flagged by Union Road Transport,
Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, the expo has attracted
about 800 exhibitors, including 270 overseas firms.

Spread over 220,000 square meters of
display area, the fair will witness launch of about 200 products and
participation by 22 countries, including Britain, China, Finland,
Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.

“The scope and reach of Excon has been
growing over the years and we hope to see more number of industries and
visitors to make it the biggest construction equipment industry expo in
South East Asia,” Sondhi added.

For innovators seeking comprehensive
support to translate their healthcare ideas into patents, the programme
will provide two years of residential incubation at IIT-Delhi, funding
of up to Rs.50 lakh for each innovator, mentoring support from
IIT-Delhi’s faculty, access to infrastructure and prototyping
laboratories, IP search and filing services, guidance from Pfizer’s
global experts, and access to venture capitalists and other industry
linkages.

For innovators who already have a ready
proof of concept and are seeking to obtain a patent, the programme will
provide access to IP attorneys and services and cover the patent fee.

The programme will invite two rounds of
proposals during 2015-2016. Call for proposals for the first round will
open from November 27 until January 15, 2016.

An independent panel of subject matter
experts will review and shortlist the potential incubates while the
Technology Business Incubator Unit board at IIT Delhi will make the
final selection of individuals and startups.

While welcoming the move to simplify
taxation laws, Reddy’s said withdrawal of R&D weighted deduction is
potentially counter-productive and likely to negatively impact India’s
innovation efforts.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
has proposed to reduce the tax exemption offered on investments made
for scientific research from the current 200 percent to 100 percent.

“Countries across the world have been
introducing various measures for promoting R&D initiatives in form
of R&D credit, R&D weighted deduction and Patent Box etc. The
R&D weighted deduction must continue, so as to provide India level
playing field in an increasingly competitive global innovation
environment,” said Saumen Chakraborty, President and chief financial
officer (CFO) of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.

He said the proposal to reduce corporate
tax from 30 percent to 25 percent over next four years, coupled with
phasing out the investment linked and profit linked deductions, is a
step in right direction.

He, however, said the government should also consider a reduction of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) in a phased manner.

“The Introduction of a sunset clause for
Special Economic Zones (SEZ) with effect from March 31, 2017, seems to
be at odds with the ‘Make in India’ objective. This could be deferred
for a few more years, considering the significant investments by the
companies, as also the impact SEZs encountered due to the MAT levy,” he
added.

This would maintain an almost
double-digit growth, Xinhua quoted Korea Automobile Importers and
Distributors Association as saying.

The KAIDA held a press conference in
Seoul to mark the 20th anniversary of its establishment, forecasting
this year’s foreign auto sales would reach 235,000.

For the first 10 months of this year,
196,543 units of foreign luxury brands were sold here, posting a market
share of 15.8 percent.

It was a surge from 0.004 percent in
1987, when the government introduced import liberalisation of commercial
vehicles with engine displacement between 1,000 and 2,000 cc.

Demand for foreign car brands kept a sharp upward trend, rising from 156,497 units in 2013 to 196,359 in 2014.

German luxury brands have led the
growing popularity of imported cars. Sales of German brands, including
BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen, took up for 68.7 percent of the total
imported car sales here in October, up from 54.3 percent in 2003.

The portion of gasoline models to the
total sales plunged from 97.8 percent in 2003 to 27.7 percent in October
this year, indicating a surge in the percentage of imported diesel
cars.

An editorial “Regional connections” in
the Dawn said that the latest Joint Economic Commission session between
Pakistan and Afghanistan has ended without any breakthrough, and that is
regrettable.

This was the 10th JEC session, and the first one following Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit last year.

Kabul voiced disappointment at the pace
of progress in implementing the 48-point agenda agreed upon during
President Ghani’s visit, while Islamabad pointed to thorny “security
issues” as the main sticking point.

The daily said that the “raft of
agreements that now await implementation between the governments of
Afghanistan and Pakistan makes an impressive list now, but the situation
on the ground stubbornly refuses to budge”.

This makes for a sad sight because both
parties involved have much to gain from advancing the mutually agreed
agenda for enhancing connectivity between their countries.

The editorial said: “Kabul has long
demanded access to New Delhi for its trucks, as well as permission to
carry commercial cargoes back. India too has long asked for overland
access to Kabul from the Wagah border.”

“The matter remains stuck due to
Pakistani fears that such connectivity could be the means of expanding
the Indian presence in Afghanistan, with security implications for
Pakistan,” it added.

The editorial noted that the deep irony
is that “greater regional connectivity is the best guarantor of regional
security, while at the same time it is perceived as a potentially
destabilising element”.

“Given the extreme reluctance of the
government in India to engage with Pakistan at the moment, it appears
that hopes for a breakthrough in the near future in the matter of
overland transit trade between Afghanistan and India are dim,” it
observed.

The daily went on to say that the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan “goes beyond India”.

It went on to say that talks to advance
the import of electricity and natural gas from Central Asia to Pakistan
appear to have made much more progress than the question of transit
trade, but thus far the projects in question – Casa 1000 and TAPI – also
have large security-related question marks hanging over them.

“The success of these projects is
closely linked to that of the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. And
once again, the stakes that are being held hostage by security
considerations are far too large to ignore since the energy surpluses of
Central Asia are a natural solution to the energy deficits of South
Asia.

“Crucial to the logjam is the fact that
both India and Pakistan feel they can get what they want without
engaging the other, a perception that has the potential to freeze the
status quo indefinitely into the future.”